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Cocaine addiction symptoms can be divided into short term and long term cocaine addiction symptoms. Cocaine addiction symptoms can be experienced after as little as one dose as the body craves the pleasurable feelings created by cocaine's first effect on the brain. In fact, cocaine addiction symptoms deliver the double threat of both mind and body associating cocaine use with pleasure and alertness which can lead to an immediate increase use of cocaine. In addition to increased usage, other short-term cocaine addiction symptoms include a decreased need for sleep and food, constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, fever and increased heart rate.

As cocaine use increases, even short term cocaine addiction symptoms become serious very quickly. Cocaine's effect on the body is unpredictable from one use to the next and the risk of sudden death from heart attack, seizures and respiratory arrest is possible. Other cocaine addiction symptoms that are likely to be experienced early in usage include:

1. Unusual, possibly violent behavior
2. Muscle spasms
3. Paranoia
4. Restlessness
5. Irritability

These cocaine addiction symptoms increase over the long term. Cocaine is highly addictive whether snorted, injected or smoked in crack form. Cocaine users develop a tolerance to the drug and find they need to use more to produce the same effect as that first hit or line. Cocaine use easily becomes compulsive as instant gratification is continuously sought and cocaine triggers the brain's pleasure center. The increasingly large amounts of cocaine taken can lead to increasing irritability, restlessness, paranoia as the personality disintegrates and is replaced by an increasing obsession with obtaining and using cocaine. In some users paranoid psychosis can develop when a grip on reality is lost and the user may begin to hallucinate. In extreme cocaine addiction symptoms this psychosis can become permanent.

In addition to destructive psychological effects, cocaine addiction symptoms manifest in the body as well. Cocaine has been found to cause many heart problems including erratic and accelerated heartbeat. Breathing difficulties or failure, chest pains, nausea, convulsions and strokes are all cocaine addiction symptoms.

Other cocaine addiction symptoms are specific to the method cocaine is used. Snorting cocaine damages the nose- loss of sense of smell, nosebleeds, nasal passage deterioration and throat irritations often develop. Cocaine users who inject suffer from track marks from repeated needle punctures and can develop damaging physical reactions to impurities in the drug. Crack cocaine users can experience shortness of breath, chest pains and headaches and strokes.

Dr. Paul's at the Bay has the facilities to address cocaine addiction symptoms and offer solutions. While medical detoxification is not usually necessary for cocaine abusers, antidepressant drugs can be beneficial in early stages to counteract depressed mood swings when first withdrawing from cocaine.

Once the client is appropriate to particpate we offer a customized treatment plan. Our counseling staff incorporate different levels of treatment, such as one-on-one therapy, group sessions and family support groups to address the many complications and reasons for cocaine abuse. Introduction into the 12-step recovery community is also introduced and recommended.

Our goal is to help you stop cocaine abuse and re-learn how to deal with life to create a life worth living. Dr. Paul's at the Bay can help. Call us today for a private, informative look into your options for recovery.

Source for cocaine related information: The National Institute on Drug Abuse which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.